Rigid airship



se t.' -13 1927.

p P. HELMA RIGID IRSHIP Filed Oct, 19, 1925 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 ATToRN EY 1,642,024 Sgpt. 13, 1927. P. HELMA RIGID AIRSHIP Filed oct. 19; 1925v s Sheets-sheet 2 ATTORNEY I Sept, 13,

P. HELMA RIGID AIRSHIP Filed Oct. 1.9, 1925 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 f prix# ity N'vENroR au! mima;

v ATTORNEY Patented Sept. 13, 19727.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE;

11A-UL HELMA, or AKRON, OHIO, AssIGNOR 'ro GOODYEAR-ZRPPELIN CORPORATION, OF AKRON, OHIO, A ooRroRATIoN OF DELAWARE.

RIGID AIRsHIP.

Application inea october 15,1925. serial No. 63,314.

My invention relatesto airships and it has particular relation to anovel construction and arrangement of bulkheads adapted to be disposed witliintlie fabricated structure of rigid airships. 4 s j One ob'ect of my invention is to vprovide a novel structure and.v arrangement of bulkheads adapted to be employed in'rig'id airships, wherein a reduction in weightV and amount of material necessary maybe effected in fabricated airships without reducing the effective strength of the structure.

VAnother Objectl of my invention is to provide anairship which is so constructed that the fabricated main rings employed therein are substantially freefrom ltorsional stresses, and thel bulging stresses caused by the gas bagsor cells are transmitted to thelongi'- tudinal girders ofthe airship substantially ina-linement therewitln In the art of building rigidairships, it is known that transversely' arranged main rings may be constructed in the form of a fabricated frame-work and providedwith bracing members such as wires extending across the ring, which members arenecessary to stilfen the ring and "serve ras limiting Velements against which the ends of the gas bags engage. Also, in building airsliipsv `it is known that the main rings may be lconstructed in the form vof ,frame-work which is inherently rigid. However, in all of these known structures soy far asl am aware, vvthe main ringshave been employed as direct supports for the bulkheads,kand consequently they were subjectedto compressive stresses resultingfrom the tension in the'wi'rebracing membersy caused by the bulkheads bea-r"- ing thereagainst'. In addition tothe compressive stresses thel bulkhead imposed'isevere torsional stresses upon the main rings. On account of these compressive and torsional stresses, the` main ring was subjected to forces of considerable magnitude, even exceeding in importance andl intensity the other stresses which were imposed upon these rings.

One known method of decreasing the compressive forces consists in employing elastic'net'sof large camber, but there remains thedisadvantage offcreatingrelativelyv severe torsional stresses in the ymain ring.

Moreover, the degree of camberA required in a net structure cannot be determined with satisfactory exactness before the airship structure is assembled.

By my present invention I have eliminated the -disadvantages above enumerated. According to my invention provision is Inaile for securing a bulkheadto each mainv ring only at the ylower portion thereof adjacent .the conventional longitudinal corridors. Each bulkhead may be secured in the proper position with maximum eiiiciency regardless of whether itis in the form of a net or whether it is formed Aby the end of a gas bag or cell. Itis also immaterial whether or not Vthe cross-sectional contourof the airship is circular, elliptical or polygonal.

The bulkhead conforms substantially to vthe cylindricalcontour ofthe gas bag without being fastened tothe Amain ring, except the lower portion thereof, which 4is' fastened to the main ring by special connections, as

described in detail later. In the event that agas bag has becomel deflated, o r while one gas bag is beingfdeflated adjacent another, .the` bag filled with gas will tend to `expand beyond the normally intermediate main ring, but the ,connections of the gas bag to the longitudinal girders of the airship Ybetween the severalmain rings are so arranged that the lines ,of' force exerted by the bulkhead and gas/bag are as nearly parallel, longitudinally of the sides o'ftheairship, ,as possible. Thusfit will be apparent that no lateral forces Vare exerted inthe upper part of the airship on the hull structure due to gas pressure against ,the bulkhead Vbut only substantially longitudinally extending vforces are exerted which are transmitted by means yof suit-able connecting members vto the longitudinally extending gir'ders at any desiredpoints between therings or to the elongitudinally'disposed girders at the points of intersection'with the auxiliary or mainrings. TwoA kinds of forces arel transmitted by the bulkheads'when a4 gas bag is deiated; firstly, forces acting in al direction longitudinal of the airship, which are caused by the gas pressure and areitransmitted directly to the longitudinally extending l, girders without exerting compression j on the main rings,except in the'lower portion'thereof;

bagsientirely around the inner periphery of.

the air ship hull,v,whileythe bulk heads and their connections are substantially inactive. Thegbulkhead-12 is shownin the position it will assume when there ismore pressure at oneside thereof than at the other; for eX- ample, in caseV one gas bag is partially deflated, or in case thejairship assumes a posi.-

Ative angle of pitch, i. e., whenl the longitudinal airis. of' the airship isly disposed obliquely with respect: to a=horizonta=l plane. The bulkhead 13 is'shown inthe .position it will assume when there is a deflated gas bag in the airship adjacent-thereto.' In

`either of the positions indicated by the representations of the bullrheads 12 and. 13, it will lbe noted thatthe netting or cord members 22 are disposedat `angles to the pla-ne ofthe main ringv 115. I-Iowe'ver this angularityy isv slight, and therefore, relatively slight 'torsional stresses are imparted to the: main ring, and these are conlined to thel lower .portionxthereof Y As soon asone of thebullrheads is bulged, as illustrated'by the. bulkhead 12, the members 22 and 18 aresubjected to increased tension, and the tensionon the member 18 is transm-itted to the longitudinal girders 1st at a very acute angle. Likewise, ythe por- `tions of.l the members 18 or 19, depending upon the direct-ion of; bulging, at theupper part of the. airship, are subjected to increasedtension when the bulkheadA is bulged andtheforces are transmitted to the longitudinal girders 14:- at an acute angle. The bullrlieads 12 and 13 are illustratedas being subjected-'to different degrees of bulging,

butthe action of these bullrheads is obvious from the foregoing description..

Referring to the form of my @invention shown in Figs.y 3 and 4, I provide gas bags or cells 26, 27, 28 and 29 which' are illustrated as being under various conditions of gas pressure, corresponding respectively to thel `conditions under which the bulkheads 11, 12 and 13, previously described, were observed. These gas cells 'are disposed in an high, toward the horizontal diameter of the' main ring, to permit the gas cells to collapse when Vthey are deflated. n

At the upper part ofthe airship hull I provide net or cord side-members 36 secured to the respective gas bags, and to the longi- .s'pective main ring 15.

'tudinali girders-14 atrthey intersection of the latter with the main'rings 15. It will be apparent" that the netting side-portions 36 preform a .function corresponding to the function performedvbyfthe netting side-portions 24 .of the other form of my invention.

In the normal inflated` position of the bulkheads formed by each of the engaging end-walls 30 and 32 of the gas cells, as shown at the left hand side of Fig. 3, the .gas bags engaz'geV the innerf ,portion ofthe hull circumferentia-lly thereofwithout imposing stresses upon eitherof the members .33 or 36.' The bulging actionof thegas bags under various conditions of .gas pressure caused by deflation ofcertain. gas cells, or by the airship assuming a1 positive.; angle of pitch, is substantially the same aslthatdescribed with reference to the formfof. my `invention dis. closed in Figs.' 1 and 2.- The main rings are subjected to stresses only in the lower portionther'eof, under conditions indicated by the positions of the engaging kends of the gas cells 27 and 28..r

then bulging actionk occurs the upper net-tingv or cords 36von one side of each re- The forces exerted, asv above descr1bed,..are concentrated along vthe longitudinal girders 14 and .as nearly.

parallel thereto vas-possible. Thev gas cell 28is shown inthe drawing as being bulged in a-direction toffthe right of Fig. 3, and consequently the cord or netting members 36 at the uppery left hand portion of the gas cell 28fare .subjected to tensional forces,

'whilevthe members 36a`t. the opposite `upper Vright hand` portio'nrofthe gas cell 28v are inactive.

. In the construction above vdescribed the blulkheadsrnay,l i-f desired, be provided with auxiliary gas bags disposed between the ends of the main gas bags for the purpose of supplying light or fuel gas, such structure beingdescribed in detail in the copending application of Eugen Schoettel, Serial Number 44, 238, filed July 17, 1925.

Although I have illustrated but two preferred' forms which my invention may assume and have described those forms in detail, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the invention is not so limited but that various minor modifications and changes may be made therein without departing from the spirit of my invention or from the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is: f 1.y An airship structure comprising longitudinally extending. girders and transversely disposed rings constituting a hull, individual gas cells disposed within the hull, and means for transmitting bulging stresses of the gasv cells to the hull substantially longitudinally with respect to the longitudinal girders thereof.

.partsof the gas cellsimpart tension to the Y fit 2. An airship structure comprising a hull including a transversely disposed main ring and longitudinally extending girders7 individual gas cells disposed Within the hull7 and a transversely disposed bulkhead having its lower portion connected to the inner circumferential edge of the main ring and its upper portion connected to the hull adjacent the outer circumferential edge of the main ring.

An airship comprising longitudinally extending girders and transversely disposed rings constituting a hull, individual gas cells disposed within the hull, a transverse bulkhead provided with circumferential side portions adapted to lie circuini'erentially against the inner surface oi' the hull, and means for so attaching the side portions to the girders that the stresses caused by bulging oit' the gas cells are exerted substantially longitudinally of the hull.

l. An airship comprising longitudinally extending gird'ers and transversely disposed rings constituting a hull, indiv'dual gas cells disposed in the hull, a transverse net provided with net side-portions adapted to lie circniniterentially against the inner suriace oi? the hull en opposite sides of each ring but ilree therefrom, and means ior connecting the net side-portions to the girders, and a plurality of iiexible members attached to the lower inner edge of each ring and to the lower portion of each transverse net.

rin airship structure comprising ay hull including transversely disposed inherently rigid main rings, bulkheads disposed adjacent a plurality ot' the main rings, means for connecting the bulkheads to the main rings te impose a lifting load on the lower section thereof, and means for connecting the bulkheads to the upper peripheral portion of the main rings to impose stresses substantially longitudinally of the hull.

G. in airsliip con'iprising a hull including a transversely disposed main ring, a bulkhead disposed within the hull, and means for connecting the lower edge of the bulkhead to the main ring in such manner that the bulkhead when bulged will impose lifting forces upon the main ring, said means being operable to exert forces only upon the lower portion ci the inain ring.

'i'. An nii-ship comprising a fabricated structure including an inherently rigid. transversely disposed main ring oi substantially triangular crosssection, a bulkhead disposed transversely ot' the striwture adjacent the main ring, ilexible members connecting only the lower inner circumferential edge of the main ring to the bulkhead, and connections between the bulkhead and the Ali-Lbrieated structure adjacent the main ring, the ilexible members being adapted to exert lifting iorces on the main ring when the bulkhead is moved to such position that it at an angle to the plane oi' the main ring.

tl. iin airsliip comprising longitudinally extending gir-ders and transversely disposed rings constituting a hull, individual gas cells disposed within Athe hull with their ends engaging cach other, means engaging the lower portion o'l' each gas cell independently, said means being operatively connected to the lower inner edge oil the main ring, and means engaging the upper portion et the gas cells and connected to the girders independently ot the main rings to impose stresses upon the girdcrs longitudinally thereof.

ln witness whereof, I have hereunto signed my naine.

PAUL HELMA. 

